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The Lost City of Barakus Returns!

Frog God Games strikes again. More material from The Lost Lands is on the way, and while we finish up the massive Sword of Air, we decided to go ahead and get the next volume of material going.

Winner of the 2004 ENWorld Gold Ennie for Best Adventure, this hardcover book is the original (revised and expanded) work by WDBK Kenower and Bill Webb. The book will be produced in 2 versions, one for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and one for the Swords & Wizardry Roleplaying Game.

For all you Lost Lands fans out there, this one is canon — it interfaces with Stoneheart Valley, Rappan Athuk, and Sword of Air, and represents the next of many ongoing chronicles of the Frog God Games/Necromancer Games home world. A MUST HAVE book for any fan of our material.

Our base level of funding is small — we wanted to keep the price point down on this. We listened to your feedback from our last few Kickstarters — and we are adding more new material based on stretch goals as detailed below.

The Lost City of Barakus, designed to take characters from 1st to 5th or 6th level (or higher), is as much of a campaign setting as an adventure. Detailed within these pages is the great, bustling metropolis of Endhome, the Penprie Forest and Duskmoon Hills located north of that city, and, finally, the huge dungeon that is the Lost City of Barakus. Within all these areas are many adventures, NPCs, and locations for the party to explore, interact with and conquer. How and in what order the party chooses to take on the various challenges before them is entirely yours (the GM’s) and the players’ choice.

Though given specific location names, the adventure herein could easily be modified to fit in any campaign world. As always, change, add, modify, delete and alter as necessary to meet the needs and desires of you and your gaming group.

Adventure Background

Centuries ago, a race of humans built an elaborate underground city beneath the Duskmoon Hills called Barakus. These were a magic-loving people, and for hundreds of years they dwelled peacefully in their subterranean home, delving into the arcane arts. Eventually, however, one of their number, a necromancer named Devron, rose to great power and transformed himself into a lich. The wizards of Barakus banded together, and after a great struggle, banished him to a prison far below the city. Before his banishment, however, Devron forged the helm of power, which he could use to restore his power at some future point.

Though Devron was locked away in a magical prison, the wizards of Barakus knew that someday he might use his powerful magic to somehow free himself, and so they created a weapon, the sword of Kell, which a mighty warrior could use against him. Because they wanted control over who got and used the sword, it was forged such that unless empowered in a specific room in Barakus with the use of three orbs of power which were themselves powered by three “flames” — small geometric shapes scattered throughout the city. The idea was that the three elders of the city must agree on a champion before they offered their flame: without complete agreement, the sword was useless.

However, before a suitable champion could be found to battle Devron, the lich played a risky gambit. At great expense to personal power, he summoned a stone of madness, which erupted through the floor near the gates to his prison. This magical stone had the power to drive all sentient creatures mad. This it did, and the good people of Barakus soon destroyed themselves, and the city fell into ruin.

Centuries passed. The stone of madness’ power diminished and most of the city was freed from its effects. Eventually, creatures from the Under Realms and the surrounding wilderness began moving into the city and using its many halls and chambers for their lairs.

Barakus is now a massive dungeon, filled with creatures that have their own designs and desires. Many of the inhabitants over the years have altered the layout of the city slightly to fit their needs, and hundreds of years of monstrous habitation has left the city’s once-great halls filled with forgotten treasures and un-sprung traps.

Of course, Devron still dwells deep beneath the earth in his magical prison, and as is the wont with trapped liches, he would like nothing more than to escape his prison and find his helm of power, which would restore the power he lost during his captivity. While exploring the city, the party may decide to find the sword of Kell, empower it, and go after Devron. The battle between the heroes and the lich is likely to serve as a climax to this adventure.

Add-Ons

$15 The Lost City of Barakus Hero Lab Files - Hero Lab files allows customers to modify, print or use our NPCs in their home campaigns, fast and easy. It also allows them to export to online formats such as D20 Pro or other virtual tabletops.

Stretch Goals

All stretch goals for this Kickstarter will focus on additional content.

$20,000 Bonus Dungeon Level 4B (UNLOCKED) - "Hall of the Shield" (written by WDBK Kenower, Bill Webb.) This level will add a new and powerful shield that the players will find highly useful during the end game and battle against Devron. Further, after the players leave the environs of Barakus, both the shield and Sword of Kell could take them to the next stage of their adventure in the depths of Rappan Athuk or in their quest for the Sword of Air.

$22,500 New Wilderness Encounter (UNLOCKED) - Bill will add an additional wilderness encounter of 2000-4000 words to the book. These encounters will include: mini-dungeons, monster lairs, new monsters, and new magical items never before seen in the Lost Lands.

$25,000 New Wilderness Encounter (UNLOCKED) - Bill will add an additional wilderness encounter of 2000-4000 words to the book. These encounters will include: mini-dungeons, monster lairs, new monsters, and new magical items never before seen in the Lost Lands.

$27,500 New Wilderness Encounter (UNLOCKED) - Bill will add an additional wilderness encounter of 2000-4000 words to the book. These encounters will include: mini-dungeons, monster lairs, new monsters, and new magical items never before seen in the Lost Lands.

$30,000 Player's Guide (UNLOCKED) (Free PDF to all backers) Add $5 per player's guide for softcover (price goes up to $10 after the Kickstarter.)

$40,000 Black and White Double-Sided map of Endhome and the Local Wilderness Area (UNLOCKED) This Black and White map shows the locations within Endhome one one side, and on the reverse is the local Wilderness Area. (Add-On price $4 each for physical copy, $2 each for PDF copy)

$45,000 Discounted Add-On Books (UNLOCKED) When the project is over we will offer existing Frog God Games books as Add-Ons. Most of these books will be discounted 10-50% off!!!

$50,000 Iconic PCs (UNLOCKED) Our existing Iconics will get an overhaul, and a few new ones will be joining the group. Use them as pre-gens, rival NPCs, or whatever you need them for!

$55,000 Full Color Region Map (UNLOCKED) This full color map shows a wide expanse of The Lost Lands from the Sinnar Ocean to the southern reaches of the March of Mountains and includes key locations that we've been to or heard rumor of such as Rappan Athuk and the Forest of Hope. An excellent addition to a Game Master's collection! (Add-On price of $8 each, $2 each for PDF copy)

Our purpose in offering these stretch goals is not to make each one of you drastically raise your pledge, but instead to grow the number of gamers who are backing our project. As many of you know, we have many more titles from The Lost Lands in the works, and we intend to get as many of you and your friends enjoying our adventures worth playing.

Track Our Progress

Risks and challenges

The only real challenges we face are unknown factors that are outside of our control, such as problems at the printing facilities or an issue with the USPS.

Sword of Air Status: The Sword of Air is coming along fantastically. We are currently in the editing process for the manuscripts and we are producing all of the artwork and cartography.